Challenges in Current Viticulture: Drought, Heat, and Solar Radiation
A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Viticulture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 15
Special Issue Editors
Interests: grapevine; phenols; volatile compounds; grape quality; canopy management
Interests: water and carbon relations; crop management; agronomy; climate change; water stress
Interests: grapevine; cryopreservation; organic viticulture; grapevine ecology; vine physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global viticulture sector is facing growing challenges due to the intensifying impacts of climate change. Increasing drought frequency, heat waves, and irregular rainfall patterns are altering vineyard ecosystems and grapevine physiology. These climatic shifts often lead to changes in berry composition, shortened vine-growing periods, and increased pest and disease pressures, ultimately threatening both yield and wine quality.
Drought may lead to vine water stress which restricts plant water and carbon availability during key phenological stages, reducing vine growth and productivity while accelerating sugar accumulation and disrupting the balance among sugars, acids, and phenolic compounds. Heat stress can alter vine metabolism, berry development, and wine composition by hastening ripening, degrading aromatic and color compounds, and increasing the risk of sunburn damage. Similarly, excess solar radiation, particularly UV-B exposure, can impair photosynthesis, oxidize key grape metabolites, and modify sensory attributes.
Emerging solutions—such as drought-tolerant rootstocks, canopy management, water-use efficiency strategies, alternative sources of water to rainfall, and protective materials (e.g., shading nets, kaolin sprays)—show considerable promise but require further validation across diverse climates, cultivars, and viticultural systems.
We kindly invite researchers to submit their manuscripts to this Special Issue, “Challenges in Current Viticulture: Drought, Heat, and Solar Radiation.” The aim is to gather significant contributions that advance the understanding of how climatic stressors—particularly drought, elevated temperatures, and solar radiation—affect grapevine physiology, vineyard productivity, grape composition, and wine quality.
Dr. Marina Anic
Dr. Jordi Oliver-Manera
Dr. Zvjezdana Markovic
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- viticulture
- climate change
- water stress
- heat stress
- solar radiation
- grape physiology
- vineyard management
- water-use efficiency
- adaptation strategies
- canopy microclimate
- grape quality
- wine composition
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